Legitimizing Government through Discursive Strategies in Malaysian Politics.

<p>The present volume comprises studies that focus on the concept of legitimation and</p><p>its manifestations in language use. They examine relevant sociopolitical aspects as</p><p>reflected in spoken printed and digital texts in Malaysian political discourse between</p><p>2008 and 2020. Legitimation is an essential element of any political discourse which</p><p>makes this volume relevant both to a broad spectrum of scholars and the general</p><p>public.</p><p>While there is no unitary definition of the concept in most research the notion</p><p>of legitimation is explained as a process of justification of a particular norm belief</p><p>and/or performance by actors holding power and/or claiming authority. Legitimation</p><p>is one of the core concepts in social sciences used in theorising political governance</p><p>that is political authority and political order (c.f. Biego��n [2016] for an overview).</p><p>Drawing on Weber��s conceptualisation of legitimacy (2019) several dimensions</p><p>of legitimation are particularly considered in research studies: next to the attitudinal</p><p>(people have to believe in the rightfulness of a particular legitimate order) and</p><p>behavioural (when they believe that particular order is legitimate they can act in</p><p>order to comply with it) dimensions one of the most important roles is attributed</p><p>to communication (Schneider Nullmeier & Hurrelmann 2007). The nexus between</p><p>political communication and legitimacy is elaborated especially in theories of democracy</p><p>(Otfried & Sarcinelli 1998 p. 253; Sarcinelli 2013 p. 93) which view these</p><p>two features of political discourse as mutually dependent. If legitimacy is conveyed</p><p>first and foremost through communication then it is language as one of the most</p><p>important means of communication that has to be included when analysing legitimation</p><p>processes. At this intersection political sciences and linguistics meet calling</p><p>for a cross-disciplinary view on legitimation as a political-linguistic concept (Cap</p><p>2008 p. 22).</p>